January 25, 2020

Dietmembers of the Japanese Communist Party and other opposition parties on January 24 jointly petitioned the speaker of the House of Representatives to investigate the jeering remark made about the introduction of a dual surname system at a recent plenary meeting of the House. They also demanded the retraction of and apology for making the remark.

The incident took place three days earlier. When the chief of the Democratic Party for the People, Tamaki Yuichiro, in the House plenary meeting was talking about couples who are reluctant to marry because of the absence of a selective separate surname system, a Dietmember of the Liberal Democratic Party on the floor shouted, “Then, they don’t have to marry!”

In the petitioning to the Lower House speaker, the opposition party lawmakers pointed out that the jeer insulted those who are discriminated against by the absence of a selective separate surname system for married couples. They also said that the jeer is counter to the freedom of marriage guaranteed under the Constitution. Noting that several Dietmembers said that the controversial remark was made by LDP member Sugita Mio, the opposition party Dietmembers demanded that the Lower House head officially identify the jeerer and urge the person to explain about, apologize for, and retract the remark.

After the petitioning, JCP lawmaker Takahashi Chizuko said to the press, “The legitimacy of the LDP is called into question when it remains silent about such a problematic remark.”